Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-11-18
run the Chez Foo mines he must have

ruu the Chez Foo mines he must have
American machinery and American as
sistants. They gave him carte blanche,
and thus, ms said, he has sailed from
San Francisco this afternoon with
staff of five assistants and a complete
outfit of steam engines. hosting ma
chinery, pumps, air compressors, drills.
cages. railroad track. and tools OF all
kinds.
The mines which Ellsworth is going
to exploit lie some 40 miles inland
from Chefoo, about 700 miles from
Shanghai, and perhaps $50 miles from
Tentsn. The formation is tho same
as in the Sierra in this state. The ore is
found in the quartz 1t turns out about
$50 worth of bullion To the ton. In the
ore are streaks Of sulphurets which
will run $3.50 TO $500 TO the ton. But
in China $50 ore. il there is plenty OF
it, and it can be easily hoisted and
taken in the mill, is rs good n thing "a
any man need want There are mines
on the Comstock which are handling
$40, ore without loss. with miners
wages fixed at a day by the cast
iron rules of the Miners union. Labor
in China is worth not over ID cents a
day. and the miners are not as particu-
lar about the length of the shafts as
they are on Mount Davidson.
In China the fee Of all real estate is
in the government Cinnamon hold
their lands and houses by virtue of re-
ceipts from the government specifying
that they have paid their taxes. Thus
no legal process was necessary to es-
tablish the government title to tho
Chefoo mines When it was resolved
to work them Mr.. Owyang Ming, dis
tinguished Chinaman whose ancestors
had been in the public service before
the Christian era. was recalled from the
consulate generalship of San Francisco
and was placed in charge 1t is prob
ably to his American experience that
the engagement Of Mr.. Ellsworth and
party is due
1t is pretty difficult to set limit to
the possible consequences of a general
resumption Of gold mining in China
Unless Mr.. Ellsworth is much mis-
taken. China is richer in gold than any
other country known. The people have
been washing gravel for gold for fifty
centuries or more, but the veins are
comparatively virgin. And never did
nation need gold so badly MS China
does now to pay for her fleet, her forth
ticalions her railroads and telegraphs,
and the other Improvements which she
must have.
1t would seem. however, that if the
Chinese mines are to be worked they
must be worked by foreigners. For
manual labor i'm the mines Cinnamon
viii answer very well But it will be a
long me before a Chinaman is found
who is competent to manage a mine.
And Of all foreigners ihe most suitable,
are Americans. No Europeans haW
the experience ncce ,sary to enable them
to deal with ores like those Of ChefoO.
The most competent of the European
miners are the Ere burg graduates. but
in practice on the Comstock they have
not been found worth more than Corn
ISL shift bosses. Our great mines are
all handled by Amer cans or by persons
who, though born abroad have lived
SO long here as TO be really Americans.
1t would probably be so with the mines
OF China.
If a few score Of mines in the foot
hills of Shantung, Kan Su, Che Kiang.
and Fo KEN should begin to output
forty or fifty millions of gold and silver
per year through American manage
mcnt and wth the aid of American
machinery the event could not but be
followed by important commercial and
political consequences.